A former colleague of paediatrician Dr David Southall says in future doctors may avoid working in child protection because they fear losing their careers.

The General Medical Council (GMC) struck off Dr Southall last week for serious professional misconduct.

It heard he had accused a Shropshire woman of drugging and killing her 10-year-old son who had hanged himself.

Dr Martin Samuels, who works at North Staffordshire University Hospital, said child protection was not understood.

He added: "We believe (the GMC) are not understanding the dilemma which us paediatricians and other doctors deal with in child protection.

'Pushing doctors away'

"When the possibility of abuse or the diagnosis of abuse is discussed with parents this is inevitably going to cause upset and stress in the family."

He added: "The problem is that doctors have to be able to raise the issue of abuse, discuss it and will give opinions that abuse is occurring in certain circumstances when in some cases, subsequently, a court decides otherwise.

"Now if on every occasion that a doctor's view and opinion is then considered to be wrong, and that a doctor is then brought to task such as that they can lose their livelihood, this will have the effect of pushing doctors away from dealing with child abuse and wanting to discuss the possibility of abuse."